Although the average mortgage rate fell this week, the monthly and 100-day trend has been much higher. Higher home prices and a faster pace in home sales is producing a seller’s market in the United States. This could change if interest rates continue to rise – however the Federal Reserve has not signaled any changed in their targets.

Despite the good news the Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) and the broader S&P 500 shrank in value in early trading. The Dow is down 37 points (-0.24%) and the S&P is down 1.84 points (-0.11%). The tech-heavy NASDAQ is up 0.65 (+0.02).

"The NMI™ registered 56 percent in July, 3.8 percentage points higher than the 52.2 percent registered in June. This indicates continued growth at a faster rate in the non-manufacturing sector”, said Anthony Nieves, C.P.M., CFPM, chair of the Institute for Supply Management (ISM) Non-Manufacturing Business Survey Committee.

(Best Syndication News) July auto sales jumped to pre-recession levels, according to the big-three automakers. Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) said that small car sales are up 32 percent year-over-year (y-o-y) while utility vehicles also posted strong gains.

General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) sold 234,071 cars last month, an increase of 23 percent (16 percent y-o-y). Kurt McNeil, vice president, U.S. sales operations, called their sales “well balanced” in the slow recovery. The company’s new products also helped.

The average 30-year fixed rate mortgage (FRM) jumped 11 basis points (bps) in one day. The average 30-year rate is now 4.264 percent (see the chart below). The most common mortgage product has climbed 60 bps over the last 100 days.

Freddie Mac (FHLMC) has not updated their 30-year required net yield rate (RNY) for over one week, but this secondary lending factor has been steadily increasing as well. Fannie Mae (FNMA) raised their 30-year 60-year RNY rate one basis point on Tuesday.

(Best Syndication News) Mortgage interest rates jumped four basis points (bps) on Friday as money flowed back into equities (see the mortgage rate charts below). A set of worse-than-expected economic indicators put pressure on stocks throughout the week.

Benchmarks

The Dow Jones Industrial Average (DJIA) advanced 48 points (+0.35%) on Friday but was down 12.02 percent on the week. On Monday the Department of Commerce said that Factory orders increased just 1.8 percent in December. Economists were expecting a three percent increase.

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